The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-16
INEVITABLE OF ARCTIC HORROR
The Man Who First Discovered Lieuten-
ant Greedy and His Starving Crew.
Eating Human Flesh-Hints of Mysterious
Deeds Worse than Cannibalsm-The
Shocking Narrative of Captain Norman.
Chicago Herald.


history of the awful months passed in the arctic
regions will probably never be made known. So
many charges and counter-charges have been
made and refuted that the general public is I'M
decided whether to accept Lieutenant Greely's
record or the stories told by the adherents Of
Lieutenant Kislingbury. There is now in Chi
oago bluff. hearty Newfoundlander named
Norman. He is man about forty five years of
age, of fine physique. and bears the marks of
great exposure to wind ana weather in his
countenance. Captain Norman was ice-master
of the Proteus when it bore Greedy and his party
to Lady Franklin bay in 1881 He held the
same position in the Neptune under command
of W. NJ. Beebe the following year, when
the provisions were cached at Cape Sabine.
He did not accompany the Proteus and
Yantic in 1883, when the former foundered.
owing to the jealousy OF the American
conusul at St Johns. He was a member of the
final relief expedition, however, and acted as
ice-master of the Thetis, which was the flagship
Of a small squadron. Tohim belongs the honor
Of being the first to discover the starving suffer-
ers, and, in fact, he remained in their tent with
them alone for nearly an hour before others OF
the EXPEDITION reached he spot. Captain Norman
is reluctant to talk about the expedition. but ne
Is supposed to know much of the history OF it
as any not a member OF it. The other night,
while playing cards with party Of gentleman,
the Captain thawed under the influence of q
bottle of rich claret. and related several ctrcum-
stances which have never been publis he'd hither-
to.
YES said he, as he lighted a fresh cigar and
leaned back in his chair, Il was the first man in
side the tent where the survivors were found. 1t
happened in this way: When reached Cape
Sabine was detailed to take charge of a steam
launch and go TO the place whore we had stored
the provisions two years previous The Thetis
had one of these new-fangled launches that
wasn't much good. took the one belonging
TO the Bear Other men were sent to another
part of the cape TO look for records As we
rounded the point could see that the provisions
had been removed. and at once knew that Greedy
had been there. There was a good deal of jeal-
ousy between the crews of the two vessels and
made up my mind that the Thetis should have
the honor of discovering the survivors, if any
had survived / mad a rubber pouch filled with
whisky siung over my shoulder aud lot of bis
emit. When the boat landed l jumped ashore
and started on a / knew the lay of the
land and 30 | was able to get to the cache before
any of my companions. When found that the
provisions had been taken away | looked around
for some traces OF the men. Abouta mile away,
across a level plain, could a small hill. and
at started for t. When l had covered
about half the distance saw some black object
crawling along through the At first [
thought it was some animal, but on approach
ing nearer | recognized Sergeant Long. His
face covered with blood; his clothes
literally tied on him; his beard thick and
matted. and his hair hung down below his
shoulders"
..'Is it you, Norman2" said he in a voice so
thick that could scarcely understand him.
Thank God"
''He told me that Lieutenant Greedy and ak
others were alive and in tent n little bit fur
Their / gave him drink of whisky and
some biscuits. aud he start ed to the launch
When II got near enough to the tent to be heard
shouted out: Cheer up Greedy; we're here with
two ships to you The back OF the tent
had been blown down. and had to cut my
in. The poor fellows we're lying the ground
in their sleeping bags, just able to move l gave
them each a drink OF whisky and biscuit
They acted at first If they were in dream
and could believe the evidence of their
senses. One man, who was just on the point of
delirium. looked M az me and asked me if
knew his name. knew his face perfectly well
and name too, for that matter, but for the life
of me / could not recall it,
=" Il knew it, said he, It's all Dream aud he
began to sob.
Just then his name flashed across my mind
Your namel Why. of course, / know it. It's
Cornell, old chap. and you're worth q whole crew
Of sick In fact. it took them all some time
to appreciate the truth. You see, all the others
just before their death had become delirious and
and would imagine that they had been rescued
and would talk to their friends just as if they
were present Those whom found were deeply
with this circumstance and were
afraid that they getting in the condi-
ton Sergeant Ellison lying near the GEN.
ter of his tent. His hands and feet had been
frozen the winter before and had dropped off
i gave him big drink of whisky and threw
a cracker into his mouth, which he
managed TO eat by pressing it between his lips
with the stumps of arms. After awhile Lieut.
Cowell and two men carrying bags of bread
and pemmlcan came ND. L introduced Colwell
TO Greeley, and said that he a member of
the Darlington expedition, which had failed TO
rescue him the year previous. AT this Greedy
began to curse and rave. He swore at the navy;
said there wasn't a decent man in it. and that he
wished ii had been the army that had come to
his rescue. ColweIl made no reply, as he thought
that Greedy didn't know what ne was saying.
Pretty soon couple of surgeons came and men
with stretchers and the Door fellows were taken
on board the Thets."
''How about the stories of cannbalism pub
lshed after the relief party returned asked
one of the auditors
"Cannibalism wasn't the worst thing that hap
pened during the expedition, by long shot,"
responded Captain Norman, after moments
hesitation. There were just three bodies out
of thirteen found which had not beer mutt
lated. Private Henry's head and arms had en-
tirely disappeared. HIS bones were picked
clean a child picks q chicken bone: his vital
organs had been removed. and in fact, there
was scarcely anything left There was we'll
beaten path leading from what was left OF his
body TO the tent You could where thick
strips of flesh had been cut from Lieutenant Kis-
lingbury's thighs. just as butcher cuts steak.
The others, too, were horribly mutilated, but
there's use of going into particulars. You
can't Judge of men in their condition as you
could if they were civilization. Just think of
lt-going for months without having water
however. all protested that they
had not eaten human flesh, and
boasted that some OF them had died OF starva-
hon rather than resort to such eztremltles
When told Commander Schley the condition In
which some of the bodies wero found he told me
TO Keep the matter as quiet as possible ana not
let the men know ything about it. The bodies
were taken aboard ship and placed in alcohol
A wooden ball was placed on Henrys neck and
two wooden sticks made to represent his arms
Clothes were wrapped around them to conceal the
deception. aud in this way he was buried on Gov
ernors island. An attempt made to observe
the utmost secrecy in the matter. land when Ports
mouth was reached no one was allowed to see
the bodies, aud the Survivors themselves were
taken ashore to the navy-yard and surrounded
by Gordon of sentinels 80 that no one could not
approach them without permission 1 think
that 1t was this attempted secrecy that made
people think that something was wrong and
which finally caused portion of the truth to
leak out"
What did you mean by saying that canni-
balism wasn't the worst thing about the expedi-
tionlp inquired one of the gentlemen present.
IL II